Late last month, the non-profit MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge hosted an event focused on new developments in clean energy distribution and how blockchain technology could play a role in how electrical grids of the future are built.
The event was sponsored by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, a government-funded agency that promotes clean energy expansion in the state, and included presentations from companies like IBM and startups like Consensys , Lo3 Energy and Grid Singularity .
Arguably the most notable demonstration of the night came in the form of Usizo, a crowdfunding platform designed to facilitate energy payments between donors and select schools in South Africa. The project was first announced last fall.
Grid Singularity CEO Ewald Hesse led the demo from Boston, with Lorien Gamaroff, CEO of Johannesburg-based blockchain startup Bankymoon , calling in via Skype from nearly 8,000 miles away, at the Emaweni Primary School in Soweto, South Africa.
As Gamaroff remarked, the nature of how power in South Africa has changed over the years. Rather than paying for electricity after it is received at a home or business, end users are instead paying for this electricity upfront.
For example, if a homeowner wanted to power their home for a day, they would go to an approved vendor who, in exchange for payment, would provide a special token that can be deposited in a smart meter. After the exchange, the lights turn on.
Gamaroff argued that this system can be prohibitively expensive, particularly for those living in rural communities. The system also relies on the existence of third parties who act as middlemen between end users and the power companies.
"A prepaid payment system makes the energy a lot more expensive because those vendors need infrastructure, there’s traveling cost, and it’s also very expensive to make those payments," Gamaroff explained. "If you’re in […]
